The trip to Alaska

June’s POV

“You need to go out more, Harry. You just can’t keep hiding inside forever, the weather is so nice and you can’t afford to waste such a good day indoor” This is actually the tenth time I’ll be asking Harry to go out and stop staying indoor all day with me reading him boring books like medical books. Even though those books might end up being helpful to me, that’s if I decide to go back to medical school.  I still find those books boring. 

“I already told you that I don’t want to go out, what will I do outside? I can’t even see clearly. It’ll only be a waste of time, my precious time at that” That has always been his answer every time I ask him to go out. My persistent nagging about this issue is due to the fact that his mother and Veronica kept asking me to take him out. Even if they both failed at it, they still wanted me to do it.

“It’s going to be fun, and stop behaving as if you’re handicap. If you don’t want people to treat you like one, then stop behaving like one and get involved, nobody will look down on you because you’re blind” I tried persuading him using a new tactic now.

“That is absolutely not what Im scared of”

“I never said anything about fear” he knew I caught him red-handed this time. He was scared about what people will feel about him and the worst thing is he’s too scared to admit that he’s scared. He cares too much about people’s opinion now that he’s blind.

“When did you become Veronica? Ooh, you’re her friend, how did I even forget about that” he replied sarcastically. “Can’t you people just let me be?”

“Nope, Not until you agree to leave this hole of a house, then, ill think about getting off your case”

“You know you’re a pain in my a**, right?’

“Is that a yes?” I asked excitedly

“It seems you want this trip more than I do” I laughed at that

“It’s going to be a long day and the weather is really nice so therefore, Dr Harry doesn’t need to go with a jacket or sweater. You’re good to go. Come on, up your feet” I commanded and he grumbled under his breath saying something that I couldn’t decipher. He stood up and I helped him out of the house to his car.

“Are you sure you can drive?”

“Are you doubting my super powers of driving, don’t worry you’re safe with me. You don’t have anything to be scared of” I assured him 

“Did you use your seat belt?”

“Yes, Immediately I helped you with yours. Did someone die because they refused to use their seatbelt” I joked and the silence that followed made me realize that I just crossed my boundary with that question. 

He was silent throughout the ride to the beach downtown and even though the shade was hiding his eyes and stopping me from reading his expression, I knew he was deep in thought.

“We’re here” I announced as I parked the car and went down from my side to open the door so he could come out of it. “Where are we?” he inquired and I was confused because I remember telling him we were going to be beach.

“Welcome to Alaska” I replied

“Alaska? Is that not supposed to be a place that is also supposed to be a fiction” 

“Yeah, it was given that name two years back, my mom told me. I don’t know the reason behind it but it was named Alaska” he shrugged meaning he was no longer interested in the conversation. I found us a bench to sit down on. 

“A woman is coming towards this direction with a baby carrier and the baby is trying to reach her hands to her mom’s hair, she retreated already and she’s playing with the man that’s making different faces. babies are so adorable” he was silent, way too silent.

“What are you doing?” 

“Trying to get you in the moment, don’t want you to miss out on anything” I explained before I continue

“An old lady is talking aggressively to a guy, I think he stepped on her feet, she’s telling him to apologize, he doesn’t want to” 

“I can’t hear any of these conversations, hope you’re not making this up” I laughed before explaining my super powers.

“I can read lips” I replied before I turned my face back to the scene. “She just hit the guy with her walking stick, oof that must have hurt, she’s doing it again, and she just won’t stop. This guy needs to apologize before this woman kill him, a man just intervened, OMG, she just turned her stick to the man, she’s hitting him really bad. This woman is a crIminal” I turned my head to see a tiny smile forming on his face.

“You’ll make a good spectator, you know that right?” He commended and I only smiled relieved that he was enjoying the moment. It was only me who was aware that I made up that story. There was no old woman neither was a woman carrying a baby.

“At least, you’re smiling and that means we’re doing this again”

“Never, not in this lifetime” he disagreed

“keep telling yourself that”

The water was being washed offshore by the wind and a lady who had sat close to the water quickly stood up and ran away as the water got closer to her, I smiled remembering how I almost drowned at a college fraternity beach party I attended during my stay in school. The year before everything went sore, a tear drop slid down my eyes and I quickly stopped it with my finger. 

As the silence lingered on with Harry drowned in his own thought, a poem came to my mind

“WRAP YOUR WINGS AROUD YOUR PAIN,

FTRANSFORM YOUR PAIN INTO BEAUTIFUL WINGS

LET IT TAKE YOU FAR AND BEYOND,

BEYOND THAT WHICH HURTS THE MOST’